Song Family Banquet

Song Ye had left the Song family for a week, and when Lu Lan angrily barged into school, her first reaction was not to bring her back home to teach her a lesson but to bring her to a restaurant. In her previous life in the Song family, Song Ye was a model example of Cinderella: she had to do all the dirty work but had no part in playing and relaxing. They would even throw her at home when they went to the restaurant during New Years'.

It must be something bad when they wanted to bring her to the restaurant.

However, since everyone was going to be there, it would be more convenient to announce certain things.

The banquet was set in a high-class restaurant in Cloud City. When they entered, receptionists were wearing Cheongsams and bowing to greet customers. The interior design was also topped with chandeliers and red carpets, and so the guests coming in were also very elegant.

A factory worker like Song Yuanzhi naturally could not afford such places, and it was the first time that Lu Lan came to such a place. When the receptionist bowed to her, she almost bowed back, humiliating Song Tingting and Song Meimei.

Song Ye was used to this scene and walked into the place in her school uniform as if she did not see her surroundings.

"Pft, why are you acting so upright? You've clearly never stepped into such a place. You must be dying out of curiosity, but you don't want to look around. What a joke." Song Meimei, who had been following behind Lu Lan the whole way, suddenly appeared beside Song Ye. Her face still had a sweet smile, but the words she spoke were filled with ill intentions.

Since young, Song Ye knew that her youngest sister was actually the most calculative one and would always use Song Tingting to trick people from behind. Now, she was also mocking her sarcastically behind everybody's back. "Are you finding fault with me because I look pretty?"

This was not a real question but a statement.

At that moment, the smile on Song Meimei's face was like a building that collapsed and disintegrated into pieces. Her watery eyes stared straight at Song Ye as if she was a strange beast. "Song Ye, what are you happy about? No matter how pretty you are, you're just…"

"Just what?" Song Ye stared at her as she suddenly paused, with her eyes looking as dark as ever.

Under this sort of gaze, Song Meimei felt that her thoughts had disappeared; and she did not even dare look at her straight in the eye. It was only until Song Ye walked far away before she angrily bit on her lower lip and muttered, "We'll just see how long you can be happy for, bastard…"

When the four of them reached the place, the room on the second floor was bursting with people as the four brothers in the Song family brought along their own families. This caused more than ten people to squeeze together, and there was already no more space at the table. When they saw Lu Lan enter, the wives of the other three brothers started pressing their lips tightly together to stop themselves from laughing.

Song Yuanzhi also felt humiliated as his face darkened, and he scolded. "Why are you so slow? Find a place to sit."

"Hi, hello, everyone." Lu Lan bent her back and smiled to greet everyone, but she was rather dumb and could only say this one sentence.

When Song Ye entered, she attracted everyone's attention.

"Aiyo, where is this child from? He looks so handsome, almost as handsome as Chengen."

"Right! He's just a little short, but his looks are one-in-a-million! Fourth Brother and Sister-in-Law, where did you get this child from?"

…

Other than Big Auntie, the other two families chimed in and praised Song Ye like she was an angel. The Chengen they were talking about was Big Auntie Jiao Yue's son. He was tall, good in his studies, and was the pride of Jiao Yue.

This comparison made Jiao Yue, who was smiling happily initially, become cold as she turned her head towards Song Yuanzhi. "Fourth Brother, today is a family gathering. Why didn't you say earlier if you were bringing someone else? I should have added one more seat."

The hidden meaning was that she was blaming Song Yuanzhi for bringing an outsider.

Song Yuanzhi had already lost his ability to speak; when he saw Song Ye's intricate face, all his thoughts went back to the past. On that snowy night, the look of that beautiful but pitiful lady was just like yesterday as she stood in front of him daintily.

After some time, he heard Jiao Yue's voice and was kind of awkward. "Sister-in-law, this is my eldest daughter, Song Ye."

"Song Ye?" The table was shocked as their gazes landed on the calm and intricate face. No matter how hard they tried, they could not connect the dots between her and the cowardly girl, who had a fringe that covered half her face, together.

After interacting for so many years, their own family members could not recognize themselves and became a laughingstock. Jiao Yue thought that she was smooth and slick, but at this time, she was also extremely awkward and could only laugh dryly to conclude. "Hehe, girls really change a lot when they grow older. After not seeing her for so many years, she really became an elegant lady and is so beautiful. Just that, her hair is a bit short. I thought she was a boy when I first looked at her."

When she finished talking, everyone laughed and agreed respectively, sweeping the incident under the carpet in no time.

No one noticed that there was a spark in Jiao Yue's eyes, and Song Ye in the corner showed a sarcastic smile.

After the small commotion, the dining table continued with its liveliness; but no one wanted to give a seat to Lu Lan who was late. In the end, the four of them were pushed to the side, and even Song Yuanzhi did not dare to open his mouth.

At the table, every brother brought their son and another chair to sit together. Jiao Yue had even allowed her son and her daughter to occupy the two seats beside the main seat.

Even the younger ones had a seat, and Lu Lan—who was given the cold shoulder—felt inferior as anger grew in her heart.

Song Tingting and Song Meimei also felt humiliated as they took the chance to add oil to the flames by Lu Lan's ear. "Mom, they're too much. Even Chengmei has a place to sit, how can you just stand here? They're bullies."

Lu Lan thought likewise in her heart, but Song Chengmei was Jiao Yue's daughter. How could she compare with this powerful and wealthy lady? When she thought of this, she could not help but to tug on Song Yuanzhi's clothes, hoping he would speak up for her.

Song Yuanzhi was a man who loved his pride and would normally stand up for Lu Lan, but today, he was clearly not in the zone. After his clothes were tugged at several times, the temper grew in his heart; and he turned around to scold her. "Are you done? If you have things to eat, then just eat. What are you making noise about?"

His voice was a little loud, which made everyone stop their chopsticks.

Lu Lan was so indignant until tears welled up in her eyes, but she did not dare to rebut. On the other hand, Song Tingting had a sudden thought and cried along with her. "Dad, don't blame Mom. Song Ye had left home for a week. Mom went to school and found her with much difficulty, but Song Ye actually said that she wanted to sever ties with our family. How can Mom eat at a time like this?"

Her indignant voice resounded throughout the entire room and sounded especially touching, but the contents shocked others.

Song Yuanzhi had not recovered his senses from Song Ye's face and was stunned right there and then.

The first person that started the trouble was Big Auntie Jiao Yue.

Piak! The chopsticks landed heavily on the table as Jiao Yue's face darkened. "Sever ties? Wow, the Song family had raised you for years for nothing. They brought up an ungrateful person."